


Zany to The Max

by Purpledragon6



Category: Animaniacs
Genre: Anxiety, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Protective Older Brothers, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27867782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpledragon6/pseuds/Purpledragon6
Summary: In 1998, Animaniacs has been canceled and the Warners try to rejoin the real world as regular kids.Yakko struggles to keep things together.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 106





	Zany to The Max

The coffee was affecting him. He could feel it... Thick and rotten and running through his viens and altering his mind with horrifying thoughts and imagines- he was terrified. His heart was racing a mile a minute and his palms were sweating. His stomach churned and he was sure he'd have to use the bathroom eventually-

All this over a cup of coffee... Maybe the nerves. 

This was his first day as a "grown up", after all. The studio had thrown them out and the money they had from the show would only last them so long. It was enough to buy a small apartment, but rent kept coming each month and Dot and Wakko still needed to go to school. That left the rest of the worrying up to Yakko. 

He knew he needed help, but who to turn to for it? There didn't seem to be anyone willing to lend them a hand, and no amount of zany seemed to get them any favors. The only option left was for him to get a job...

And that meant going to as many interviews as he could and sit as still as possible for an extended period. At night, he'd pray for a phone call. Then the next day, he'd do it all again. 

Yakko knew his anxiety symptoms would only worsen from here on out. He knew he would eventually be consumed by them. Yet, he continued with his transit. Continued to make plans to work, then return home everyday after work, and spend time with his family. They didn't know about the stress he was under yet, and he wasn't going to tell them until he knew for sure that there was no hope left for him. There were still a few more appointments left today. 

Still, these interview appointments didn't come cheap. Without a car, he had been taking the bus and train more than he would have liked, and it was adding up. Especially at $10 a ticket.

And today, he had a guest...

"Yakko?" Dot squeaked, looking at her older brother with an innocent concern.

"Whats up, sis?" Yakko asked, his eyes dropping slightly from the throbbing headache pounding in his temples. 

_Yeah. Coffee may be the beverage of adults, but I am NEVER drinking it again!_

The pair were currently in transit to Yakko's next interview. They'd taken an alternate mode of transportation: the Train. As much as Yakko wanted to keep his sister away from such horrible things like interviews, she kept insisting he bring her with him. The elementary school had a half day and she was "so sure she'd be bored at the apartment!". So that's how Yakko found himself with a traveling buddy.

"Your shirts smells." She said thoughtfully, resting her head on his shoulder. "Like old ink."

Yakko frowned deeply and sniffed the collar of his button down shirt. It was clean, last he checked, but his previous interview had been at a Staples... He sniffed it again. The smell was familiar this time...

Home...

Not the apartment, but the studio. Where all their cartoon pals had come to life, including them...

"I got it from the prop room before we left... Thats why." He replied just as thoughtful. He then forced himself to look out the train window.

"... Doesn't it make you sick? That smell?" Another surge of pain rang in Yakko's head. 

That was a bait question if ever he heard one. The answer? The smell made him incredibly homesick. His heart clenched at the memory of their beloved watertower home. He missed it- he missed everyone. Ralph, the Nurse, Scrarchnsniff... Heck, he even missed Plotz!

It took a moment before the discomfort settled enough for him to reply.

"... No. It smells like home. I like it." A lie.

"Then why do you get so stressed out over wearing it?" Well, he had been caught.

"How do you know about that?" A kind smile graced his lips for the first time in a long time. "I haven't told anyone yet-"

"I'm your sister. You don't think I notice things?" Dot's little nose twitched slightly. "You wound me, Yakko."

"Heh. I'd never hurt ya, Dot." Yakko smiled, "So don't go worrying about me. I've got this all taken care of."

"I don't think you do." The little girl sneered. "Call it 'Lady's Intuition'..."

"You're not even a proper lady yet!" That was a joke, but Yakko still found himself narrowly avoiding Dot's tiny fist.

"So? I'll be a proper lady like YOU one day!" Well, he had walked into that one.

"Hey. Who said I'm a proper lady yet? You have no basis to judge me on, Dottie." A gasp and punch from his sister followed the comment, but he found that he could care less about the pain in his arm. Dot's little smile was worth it. 

"Don't ever call me Dottie." She smirked, tossing another punch his way. "Call me that and you die."

It was talks like this that made him feel some comfort. The caffeine seemed to stop flowing so rapidly in him, and any traces of pain in his joints from his exhaustion was somehow soothed. Just a casual bashing of with the little doll in his life.

"So anyway... What job are you interviewing for now?." A scoff. "I'm serious, Yakko."

"Just a boring office job. Pushing papers, counting beans. The works." Yakko sighed. "Least it's only an 8 hour work day..."

"Well, you better get this one! We're running out of food back at the apartment." She shook her head quickly.

"You-"

"I'll fight this guy if he doesn't give you the job!" Dot cut in. "And don't think I won't."

"I don't think you won't." Well, he knew better than to think otherwise. "But I've got a good feeling about this one."

He didn't have to lie, but it just came naturally in cases like these. "And I promise I'll take care of groceries soon... Maybe later we can go to the zoo or see a show too?"

"I'd like that. A lot." She laughed, resting her head back on his shoulder. "We should bring Scratchnsniff along."

"Scratchy's out for hip surgery, I think." Yakko said. Either that, or the Doctor had lied and was just dodging Yakko's calls. 

He began silently counting the stops they had left before they reached their destination. "Why don't you take a nap? We still have a little whiles yet."

Dot nodded, grabbed her brother's coat flap and wrapped it around her thin shoulders. He found it more cute than anything, noting how they both could barely fit in it together now.

"Yakko?" She squeaked. "Sing me something?"

"On the train?" Blue eyes studies her quizically. "... Fine. Why not?"

His own eyes shut, old songs flowing back to mind as he began to sing softly to the little one. It had been done so often over the years that he didn't have to think about the words anymore. 

_"United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama...."_

In the distance, the Warner Brother Studio came into view. The old watertower was just on the horizon. And up in his office was Mr. Plotz, waiting for Yakko to come in and beg for a job. 


End file.
